I mentioned it before here at the ISB (and on this week’s Ajax, and on Twitter), but this is my last week working full-time at a comic book store, which I’ve been doing for holy crap six years. What I haven’t mentioned is why I quit, but in case anyone was worried, it’s good news:

I’m quitting to become a full-time writer.

The bulk of it, which I’m sure will come as no surprise, is going to be a full-time freelance job with ComicsAlliance as their Senior Writer, but there are a couple of other things that hopefully I’ll be able to mention soon.

So what’s this mean for you, the cretinous loyal reader? At this point, not much. From a content standpoint, I’ll actually be writing more than I do now and doing a bigger variety of things. I’m certainly not abandoning the ISB–believe me, try as I might to sell it, nobody wants to pay me to read Anita Blake or slap together a Wrestler Wisdom Friday–so there’ll always be stuff here, although the links to external content are going to be a more permanent fixture.

The biggest change for the ISB itself is probably going to be regarding The Week In Ink. It’s probably the longest-running feature I’ve got, but in both depth and frequency, it’s largely a product of me being at the store all the time. With the new schedule, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get my comics by Thursday night, let alone read ’em all and write Uranus jokes reviews. But I’ll see how it goes on that front. It might be just as simple as moving ’em to a different day.

I’ve got to say, I’m pretty excited about this. Even if it’s not going to make me rich, being able to make a living writing is something I’ve wanted since I was twelve years old. So please, join me in celebrating Quitsgiving this Saturday, and be on the lookout for more changes (good ones, I think) coming to the site soon.

Normally, I tend to let these things speak for themselves, but finding out that Patrick McGoohan died today hit me pretty hard. McGoohan is best known for starring in and, along with George Markstein, co-creating the 1967 British TV series The Prisoner, and to say that I’m a fan is putting it mildly. I’m of the opinion that it is objectively the greatest television show ever made: Years–decades–ahead of its time in every way, from its storytelling and style to the themes it addressed to the dialogue, delivered with McGoohan’s calm, seething rage.

But even beyond that, it’s the sort of thing that can teach you something about yourself and the world around you. It’s not so much a show that you watch as one that you experience, and it’s something that is genuinely important to me. For that, Patrick McGoohan has my thanks, and the world is poorer without him in it.

If you’re a regular on the comics blog circuit, then you’ve probably heard this already, but in case you haven’t, Blog@Newsarama contributor Carla Hoffman and her husband Lance were badly burned and lost their house during the recent wildfires that swept through California.

To be totally honest, I don’t know Carla (although those that do have never had anything but nice things to say about her and Lance), but I do know that that’s the kind of tragedy that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and that nobody should have to go through it without help. To that end, the Lance and Carla Burn Fund has been set up at the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, and if you can, I’d urge you to help out with a contribution. Kevin has the details on where to send a check or money order, and I wish the Hoffmans a speedy recovery.